Preliminary figures from the Central Statistics Office show that average hourly earnings increased by 3.2% to €24.81 in the first quarter of this year.
The CSO also said that average weekly earnings in the first quarter of 2020 stood at €801.83, a rise of 3.9% from the figure of €771.60 the same time last year.
Meanwhile, average weekly paid hours increased 0.6% to 32.3 hours in the first three months of the year.
The CSO noted that Government measures put in place in response to Covid-19 only related to weeks 11 to 13 of the first quarter and so the impact of the pandemic on earnings and labour costs results is minimal.
It said that most sectors were unaffected for 11 weeks of the quarter, with some sectors unaffected for the entire three month period.
But the CSO's Louise Egan said the response rate for the estimates has been negatively impacted due to the inability of some businesses to access the data required to respond to the survey questionnaire, submit returns or respond to reminders and queries due to Covid-19.
She said the sectors particularly impacted by low rates of survey response were Construction, Accommodation and Food Services and Transportation and Storage.
Caution is therefore advised in relation to the figures, she added.
Today's figures showed that the highest average weekly earnings of €1,322.78 were seen in the Information and Communication sector, followed by the Financial, Insurance and Real Estate activities sector at €1,276.14.
The lowest average weekly earnings of €366.49 in recorded in the Accommodation and Food Service Activities sector and €535.56 in the Arts, Entertainment, Recreation and Other Service Activities sector.
Today's CSO figures show that the average weekly earnings increased in 12 of the 13 sectors of the economy in the first three months of the year, with the biggest percentage increases seen in the Human Health and Social Work sector and the Construction sector.
Meanwhile, average weekly earnings in the public sector (including semi-state) showed an increase of 3.3% from €960.26 to €991.53, while there was an increase in the private sector of 4%, with wages rising from €717.20 to €746.22.
